The Polish Day -- celebration of the Central European country’s culture, literature and products -- will be held at the Cheonggye Plaza in Seoul on May 1 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

Organized by the Polish embassy, the venue will feature tourism information, information on education opportunities in Poland and works of Polish Nobel laureates, poet Wislawa Szymborska (1923-2012) and physicist-chemist Maria Sklodowska-Curie (1867-1934). An exhibition on the life of Curie will be held at Ewha Womans University from May 16-31.

Polish products, including cosmetics, ceramics, herbal tea, fruits such as chokeberries and candy, will be on display. Special booths will have children’s books by authors Iwona Chmielewska and Krystyna Lipka-Szarballo, which have been published by Sagyejeol and Nonjang. 


Traditional music and dance will be performed by students from the Polish department of the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, wearing folk costumes. A piano in the middle of the plaza will be available for playing the music of Polish composer Frederic Chopin (1810-49).

Ahead of “the Day of Polish Diaspora and Poles Abroad” and “the Day of the Polish Flag” on May 2, Polish nationals living in Korea will be given opportunities to be photographed at 3 p.m. wearing symbols representing Poland or traditional costumes, while holding the national flag. Roughly 15 to 20 million Poles live outside of the country, which has a population of 38.5 million.

By Joel Lee (joel@heraldcorp.com)